Video by Zach Bermejo

Winter may be coming, but not before the pumpkin spice latte season.

The autumnal beverage made its official return at Starbucks locations on Sept. 5. Its comeback is met with either relish or reluctance during this time of the year.

“There’s a stigma that comes with loving pumpkin spice,” said junior journalism and communications major at Colorado State University Annie Van. “I definitely fit the stereotype. I’m in a sorority. I am white, and I wear Uggs on occasion.”

Van referenced an image that is often associated with drinkers of pumpkin spice lattes: young, middle-class white women whose fall season wardrobe contains Ugg boots, scarves and leggings. As others have put in more derogatory terms, this is the image of the infamous “basic bitch.”

Yet, not all connoisseurs of the squash-inspired latte fit this stereotype. Senior social studies teaching major Hunter Samuel Stafford is an officer of the CSU Snowriders, and he thinks the lattes are quite good. In fact, Stafford claims to drink two to three pumpkin spice lattes a day during the season.

Though, one thing that still has many people confused is pumpkin spice itself. In 2015, Starbucks refined their pumpkin spice latte recipe to include real pumpkin. This was done at the behest of consumers who were upset that the lattes did not have any actual pumpkin flavor.

“Pumpkin spice” consists of cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground allspice and ground cloves. This combination of spices is what is added to pumpkin pies, hence the reason for the latte’s name.

Unofficially, there is one other ingredient that most do not know about. Sophomore philosophy major at CSU Tara Trunfio is an employee of Starbucks, and she says that the lattes contain a “sprinkle of magic.” The health conscious need not worry about this, as Trunfio pointed out that the magic contributes less than a calorie to the 380 calorie Grande pumpkin spice latte.

Starbucks at CSU:

Serving Starbucks coffee, Intermissions is located on the 200 level of the Lory Student Center next to the LSC Theatre. 

Collegian reporter Zach Bermejo can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com or on Twitter @zach_bermejo.